Oh how I’ve missed blogging! I took a break for a little while to have some work done to the blog and during that time I completed some new projects I can’t wait to share with you!
First, I want to give a big shout out to Jamie, over at
Fresh Lavender Designs for creating my new logo and graphics, and to Sara Duckett from
Sadie Olive for giving the blog a total makeover! Both ladies were extremely easy to work with and I could not be happier with the results!!! If you are in need of a logo design, social media banners, business cards, website or blog design work, etc., I definitely recommend both of these ladies!
During my time away from the blog, I was able to focus on Spring cleaning! Every year it happens to me where I wake up on the first day of warm sunny Spring weather, and suddenly I get the itch to rid the house of Winter!! It’s amazing how all of the sudden in one day, I notice a layer of dust, dirt, dog hair, random broken toys, tired clothes, home decor that I could totally sell, silver that needs to be polished, cabinets that need a good wiping, and beaucoup things we don’t need!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s like every room I would walk into there was a voice inside my head saying “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’m surrounded by too much crap!!!!!!!!!!!!” I was overwhelmed and didn’t even know where to start.
Like I do with most projects before taking them on, I turned to Pinterest for help in order to create a plan and get myself motivated. Now there are TONS of resources on
Pinterest, and I do mean TONS, that offer guidance and motivation on where to get started with Spring cleaning and how to do it most effectively. After sifting through hundreds of pins on the subject, I realized that most of the printables /organizers out there are designed to help you accomplish your cleaning/decluttering goals based on 2 things: a set time schedule and attacking the project by room. This looks great on paper and sounds good in theory, but it really doesn’t work for my life right now. Â We have a toddler who is blowing and going ALL the time and I need a little more flexibility. To expect that I can declutter and clean out the entire garage all in the same day is not practical for me. I need something that I can actually use as a guide to accomplish decluttering of my entire home at my own pace! And then I found a Spring Cleaning/Declutter plan that I REALLY liked…
Emily over at myloveforwords.com came up with this fantastic “Declutterathon” idea along with several tips and suggestions for actually decluttering your home successfully. I love this post she did about creating a decluttering schedule for yourself and doing so by the size of the project.The gist of her plan is to first list out all of the rooms or spaces in your home that need decluttering. Then, go back and divide those spaces up by how long you think it will take to declutter. This may involve installing a new organization system or rearranging the room completely so I chose to look at each space as a “project”. I first wrote down on a piece of paper what areas of my home I needed to declutter and how long I thought it would take me to complete the task.
Then I went back and highlighted the tasks using 3 different color highlighters. Green was for a “small” project requiring 30 minutes or less, yellow was for a “medium” project requiring up to 2 hours, and orange was for a “large” project requiring several hours or more…
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| as you can see someone added their own design twist to the bottom of the list after I finished |
Then I went back through my newly highlighted list and re-wrote the projects in groups according to their size on this printable I created…
And yes I’m going to share it with you! You can download it for FREE
here.
Now I actually have a practical plan for decluttering my entire home and I can do it at my own pace. So if one day I find myself with an extra 30 minutes of time, I can glance at my list, pick a “small project”, get it done and cross it off! Such a good feeling! Sooner rather than later, my entire house will be decluttered and I probably won’t use any curse words in the process! (no promises though)One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I am more productive in life when I can set goals that are actually attainable, and the chances of me actually reaching those goals are much greater if I have a system to follow that fits with my lifestyle and personality.
Are you stuck in a cleaning rut and don’t know where to begin? Do you have a long list of overwhelming house projects in your head that you feel will never get done? I hope you can find a system that works for your life to help you achieve your goals and cross some of those projects off your list!
Download the “Declutter Organizer” Printable and get started mapping out your plan for a clean house today! It may be just the system for you too!
While you’re at it, take some time to browse around the new site!Even more new things are yet to come…
